Centenarian breaks his own cycling hour record – in pictures

With hour record cycling enjoying a newfound status not seen since its mid-90s heyday, due to interest from Fabian Cancellara and a possible relaxation of the rules of the event, the 102 year-old Robert Marchand took to the boards to break his own hour record

Here, he pedals slowly but steadily along the côte d'azur (the blue line that runs along the inside of the velodrome). The UCI made the category of a centenarian's hour record specially for him, two years ago, where he set his record of 24.1km

His record was set at the new national velodrome at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, which the Federation France Cyclisme (FFC), hopes will be the base of a national professional team, in the mould of Team Sky